10/28/2014

The City of Buffalo is preparing to give General Mills lower Michigan Avenue. At 2pm this afternoon there's a perfunctory public hearing prior to the General Mills take over of a very important public asset and a street that provides direct access to Buffalo's historic waterfront.

Here's the current proposal the City of Buffalo is considering. This is wrong on a number of levels.

Last December Lee A. Anderson, Director of State and Local Government Relations for General Mills was asked by Council President Darius Pridgen whether General Mills, the global food giant and maker of Cheerios, would leave Buffalo if this take-over proposal did NOT happen. Here's that two minute exchange and a formal statement by General Mills that they will NOT move if they don't get their way.

During last year's public hearing Daniel Sack, Campaign for Greater Buffalo board member and Dana Saylor, artist and founder of City of Night spoke out against this same proposal. Here's an incredibly informed and passionate statement about everything that is wrong with this corporate take over.

Please inform friends in your networks about this meeting and why it's important to stop General Mills.

10/14/2014

Two journalists rode along on a recent Tour de Neglect through Buffalo's East Side and have recently published their work. Buffalo's own Block Club and UK's The Guardian join the list, see below, of media outlets critically reviewing this bicycle tour.

Jennifer Conner, writing for the latest issue of Block Club, focuses on one of the tour's stops and writes about the people she met in historically one of the city's most challenged neighborhoods - In the shadow of the Sacred Heart. The census tract surrounding this neighborhood, once the most densely populated in the city, has lost more than 89% of its population over the years. Jennifer's work is richly photographed by Harper Bishop.

Ethan Powers, writing for The Guardian has a broader view. His article contains a few of my own photographs of the city's East Side as well as Molly Jarboe's photographs from the tour.

The city of Buffalo has an identity problem. One half has been reborn like a phoenix from a graveyard of industrial ash – experiencing an economic and cultural resurgence that has transformed many previously barren areas into bustling centres of commerce and entertainment. Yet the other half sits in a state of utter disrepair – its streets manifest a palpable level of poverty, blind to the recovery and optimism growing across town...read the rest.

10/11/2014

This demolition of Buffalo's oldest synagogue was an avoidable tragedy. The Jefferson Street Shul was structurally sound, with cosmetic repairs only needed on bricks that had become loose on the facade. It is unfortunate that officials in the Department of Permits and Inspections were not willing to consider reasonable alternatives to the destruction of this landmark of the city's Jewish history.

Saving landmarks like the Jefferson Street Shul always requires creativity, but by pursuing its destruction rather than its repair, the City took the easy way out.

10/10/2014

A representative from Regional Environmental Demolition confirmed late this afternoon that the Jefferson Street Shul will be demolished tomorrow morning. The City of Buffalo has awarded an $82,000 emergency demolition contract to this Niagara Falls NY based demolition contractor to destroy the city's oldest synagogue. The demolition is scheduled to begin at 8am tomorrow morning.

I spoke with Terry Robinson - City of Buffalo Preservation Board member and Vice-President of Preservation Buffalo Niagara. He told me that the Preservation Board did NOT have an opportunity to review this demolition contract. "This is a huge loss for the city's East Side and for the entire City of Buffalo," Terry told me.

The Jefferson Street Shul was designated a "local-landmark" by the City's Preservation Board in 1997.

Please join the vigil tomorrow morning as we witness the destruction of the city's oldest synagogue from 8-10am at 407 Jefferson Avenue.

9/19/2014

The former Jefferson Street Shul (407 Jefferson Avenue - google map) is wide open and a new demolition notice (dated today) was found this morning affixed to the building.

In February 2012 I convened a series of meetings with local preservationists, architects and local historians. I met with Housing Court Judge Carney and local preservation attorney Richard Berger to help save this local landmark and special access was provided to help determine the Shul's interior and overall structural condition. Buffalo architect Ted Lownie from HHL and local preservation contractor Vince Kuntz accompanied me on at least one interior inspection. It was found to be stable. The Shul's owner - Reverend Ferrell in Phoenix AZ - wanted nothing more to do with the building and was prepared to deed his former church to a court approved qualified buyer for $1. No buyers were found.

Elliot Dalfin purchased the Shul at the city's tax foreclosure auction in October 2012 for $600 (six hundred dollars). He was the only bidder. Elliot splits his time between Buffalo and Brooklyn and controls a large number of rental properties in the city's Broadway Fillmore neighborhood using various LLC's. Currently one of his LLC's owns the Shul.

I met with Elliot several times over the past year. His plans included creating a vibrant cultural center that would honor and respect the traditions and history long associated with the Shul. Calls this afternoon were not returned.

The future of the former Jefferson Street Shul is very uncertain. Tomorrow, Buffalo's Young Preservationists have committed to assisting in re-boarding and securing the Shul - Saturday 9/20 at 11am. All are welcome.

9/16/2014

I wrote about 1363 Sycamore Street a few months ago, here (must see). It was located next door to the Happy Swallow, the last remaining tavern in this neighborhood. Steps away there are dozens of city-owned and privately owned residential properties near the recently renovated Harvey Austin School at 1405 Sycamore. Many of these houses are wide open (for years), heavily water damaged and need to be demolished.

May 12, 2014

This demolition was NOT reviewed by the city's Preservation Board. 1363 Sycamore was NOT listed for sale by the Division of Real Estate. Currently there is no plan for this block of Sycamore. This is an(other) egregious example of the City's lack of coordinated and strategic planning when it comes to city-owned property. Shame.

9/05/2014

Fox News contacted me after Alana Semuels LA Times story - As an alternative to demoltion, Buffalo offers homes for a dollar - ran last month about the city's homestead program. I spoke with Ron Ralston, Fox News producer and invited his crew to Buffalo last week. We spent the day talking with homesteaders and neighborhood residents about alternatives to demolition and neighborhood stabilization.

This segment features Deyron Tabb, Mike Puma and Matt Newton who've successfully purchased former city-owned houses in the city's Hamlin Park Historic District for $1.

This is the final cut that airs on Fox News over the weekend.

Fox News also interviewed Brendan Mehaffy, Executive Director of the City's Office of Strategic Planning. Brendan continues to be a strong supporter of the city's homestead program.

Knocking a house downs costs about $20,000 on the average in the City of Buffalo.
If we can sell a house for $1 we can save $20,000 and we can invest it in something else. We can get a property on the tax rolls and improve it with private money, not public money.

Kudos to all involved in helping to spread the word about the urban homesteading program in the beautiful and resilient city of Buffalo NY.

7/22/2014

The Common Council unanimously approved the application for the Larkin Historic District this afternoon. Read the approved application here: Larkin Historic District.

Howard Zemsky, the developer whose brainchild is the revitalization of the Larkin District, likely shared the most eloquent remarks at last Tuesday's public hearing before the Common Council. Here's an excerpt:

The extraordinarily rich architectural, economic, and cultural history of the proposed Larkin Historic District has been thoroughly outlined in the application and I won’t attempt to recount it here. What I can add with a strong sense of pride is that my partners and I reclaimed many key elements of this district twelve years ago, complete with all of the blight, abandonment, and deterioration of the buildings, which was only matched by the neglect of the public infrastructure particularly along Seneca Street. Without any customers or prospects at the time, without any public subsidy, and frankly without anyone else thinking that what we were doing made any sense, we set out to rehabilitate a building, then buildings and then a district. Today, there are more people working in the former Larkin Company buildings than were working at the peak of employment of the Larkin Company itself.

We have watched one tenant after another be drawn to the unique character of these historic buildings and to the unique history that they represent. Every one of these buildings without exception contribute to the rich history and to the compelling and inspiring aesthetic that you feel when you are standing among them. Don’t ever underestimate the pride that people feel in actively participating in the renaissance of the Larkin District and by extension the city of Buffalo, by virtue of working there. The rapidly increasing popularity of the district as a place to work, as a place to live, and as a place for entertainment speaks volumes for the benefit of these historic buildings and for the environment that they help create.

We all stand on the shoulders of others who came before us and dared to pursue their dreams. These buildings and the people therein represent an extraordinarily significant time in our city and region and the country. The Larkin District is at the epicenter of Wright’s works in Buffalo, of the genius of Larkin, Martin, and Hubbard, and the innovations they brought to American Industry, including lasting changes for the better in the relationship between employer and employee. Let’s not turn a blind eye to the countless untold stories of the people who built the Larkin Company, and who played such a significant role in building Buffalo.

Sadly, not everyone sees these buildings in a historic context and not everyone sees themselves as stewards of the history that they represent, and not everyone feels a responsibility to the people that they represent. We lost one of Wright’s most significant works when the Larkin Administration Building was demolished in 1950. Even with the constant reminder of that tragedy literally staring us in the face on a daily basis, there are those who bring a cavalier attitude toward the buildings and their history, those who propose demolishing them. Please designate landmark status to the Larkin District which will help assure the future of this district and the future of these buildings. Please help preserve the inspirational legacy of the Larkin Company and of the many thousands of people who helped to build it.

7/16/2014

Are plans to dismantle and relocate St. Gerard's Church now dead? I spoke with Patricia Chivers, Communications Director for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, GA, this morning. I asked her about the rumors circulating that THE BIG MOVE is now off, and asked about the status of fundraising and long-term plans for St. Gerard's.

She seemed unaware that the Diocese of Buffalo is currently marketing St. Gerard's to other prospective buyers. She told me that the local parish has not provided an update for at least one year regarding the status of plans for the property, and promised a statement on the issue within two days.

Chrissy Lincoln, Director of Operations at Preservation Buffalo Niagara—the only preservation group that supported the deconstruction and Atlanta move four years ago—said she recently toured St. Gerard's and has been approached by the Diocese of Buffalo to help market the property to qualified buyers.

If you haven't seen St. Gerard's magnificent interior, take a moment and scroll trough local architectural photographer Jim Cavanaugh's stunning series. He's captured the splendor of this East Side treasure.

When workers at the site were salvaging bricks from an exterior wall last April, Krog and Cornell were "blown in" by the Campaign for Greater Buffalo for beginning a demolition without a permit. A stop-work order was issued, and the Campaign prepared an application to designate the Power House and its neighbors as the Larkin Historic District. This would formally help preserve the sole visible remnants of Frank Lloyd Wright's work at the complex, as well as all of the remaining iconic factory buildings. Here's a map of the planned Larkin Historic District and a historic site map to further orient you to this development.

The hearing will be on Tuesday, July 15, 2:00 pm, in the Common Council Chambers. You are urged to attend and, if possible, speak in favor of landmark designation. This building, or the landmark-designation process itself, must not come tumbling down.

It is short notice, and the hearing is to occur during the workday, so it is difficult for many to attend. You can still make your voice heard by writing a brief note to the City Clerk declaring your support. These will go into the packets the Common Council will receive and be part of the public record.

7/05/2014

Last week Zillow claimed that Buffalo, NY had the most stable real estate market in the country, with a zero risk of loss. The Buffalo News picked up and ran (uncritically) with the story, here.

942 Humboldt (google map) was last sold for $63,000 in 1994. It's a 3000sf single-family home with four bedrooms and two baths and the city currently assesses this property at $37,000. The foreclosure is complete, it's bank-owned (M&T Bank) with an asking price of $12,900.

The real estate record and sales story of 942 Humboldt Parkway is not anecdotal. It's part of a larger trend of disappearing values and mortgage foreclosures that are locked in limbo with other zombie properties that define entire neighborhoods on the city's East Side.

So, what's up with the missing $50,000 in value? The house is located just two blocks away from one of the city's most important museums, schools and an Olmsted Park that has a fabulous and recently renovated splash pad. In addition, Humboldt Parkway has just been striped for bike lanes and one block away on Fillmore Avenue substantial street and sidewalk improvements - including bulb-outs, bike lanes, new granite curbs and tree plantings - are now complete.

So color me confused about the missing $50,000. The Buffalo News repeated Zillow's press release about real estate values in Buffalo, NY and yet the reality seems to be very different and slightly unforgiving.

Perhaps the asking price has something to do with the empty lot one block away where the city spent $18,000 to demolish 2 Girard Place five years ago. Or, maybe the lost $50,000 of value is linked to the Kensington Effect that makes sitting on the front porch nearly impossible.

Metropolis Magazine covered this week's opening of the Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station, here. The exhibit is Jim Sandoro's latest addition to an expanding collection at the Pierce Arrow Museum. Follow the museum's link for additional information about the project that remained unbuilt during Frank Lloyd Wright's lifetime.

At the other end of Lake Erie in Detroit this week, Anna Clark author of A Detroit Anthology (May 2014) has an Op-Ed in the New York Times - Going without Water in Detroit. Residents of Detroit have recently appealed to the United Nations for relief as up to 300,000 residents are facing water shut-offs. Detroit's water wars have prompted the formation of the Detroit Water Brigade and coverage of this human and urban disaster is now getting global coverage. The Guardian is reporting, here.

Copenhagenize has been following the construction and design development of the world's first elevated cycle track, here. This truly innovative project will elevate cycle commuting to a new high and set a new bench mark for bicycle infrastructure.

Moved By Grace, the attempt to plunder St. Gerard's one of the city's most exquisite architectural and cultural treasures by a suburban Atlanta GA congregation, has hit an inconvenient snag. It's been reported on a number of FaceBook posts that Preservation Buffalo Niagara was contacted by the Buffalo Diocese for assistance in re-marketing St. Gerard's. Chrissy Lincoln from PBN confirmed that contact and PBN has un-officially conducted tours of the church. Stay tuned.

Kosuke Okahara is working on a long-term project documenting the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. LensCulture recently profiled his series - From Emergency to Normalcy - which is part of his larger work Fragments/Fukushima. His work depicts life and death inside the exclusion zone. Okahara's riveting work evokes strong emotions and presents a challenge and a critical evalution of our dependency and reliance on the velocity of technological progress.